Spirit-level attachment.



PATBNTED AUG. 18, l1908.

A. EOEEEE. SPIRIT LEVEL ATTACHMENT.

APPLIOATION FILED 00T. 31, 1907.

Y l /NVENTOH fzamw MEM A TTOHNEY y level through an arc of ninety degrees, a fur- UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

ALBERT FORRER, OAF RAMSEY, NEW JERSEY.

SPIRIT-LE VEL To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT FORRER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Ramsey, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have made and invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spirit-Level Attachments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in spirit level attachments, and has for its object to provide a spirit level adapted to be placed upon a straight edge and which may also be used as a plumb in connection with the same straight edge by simply turning the ther object being to provide a device of this character which may be easily and quickly adjusted to be used in conjunction with either side of the straight edge, or with either end thereof.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which will allow of the rapid removal of the bubble-tube and the insertion of a new one in case of breakage, and a still further object is to provide an attachment which will be simple in construction, efficient in its operation, and inexpensive.

With these and other ends in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of my device shown applied to a straight edge in the position to be used as a level. Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the device in position for use as a plumb. Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of my device in the position shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail View on line 5&5 of Fig. 4 showin@ the manner of holding the bubbletube in p ace, and Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, 6 indicates a straight edge of any suitable size and material, to which m f device is attached as shown, said device comprising a plate 7 and a rotatable carrier or frame 8, adapted to hold or carry the bubble-tube 12. The plate 7, which is preferably made of metal, has a boss 9, which is preferably struck up from the metal of the plate at about the central portion thereof, and which is provided with Specification of Letters Patent.

a thread on its inner surface adapted to receive the set screw 10, whereby the rotatable l ATTACHMENT.

Patented Aug. 18, 1908. Serial No. 400,068.

carrier or frame 8 may be supported upon the plate, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The plate is further provided with a series of V- shaped recesses or depressions llarranged radially about the boss 9 as a center and spaced equidistant therefrom, said recesses or depressions being spaced from one another a distance corresponding to a quadrant of a circle or ninety degrees, and are so located with respect to theboss 9 that when the carrier or frame 8 is held in position thereby, in the manner hereinafter described, the bubble-tube 12 will be held either parallel with one or the other of the edges of the straightedge or perpendicular thereto, depending upon which one of. said recesses is employed. The plate 7 is secured to the straight edge by screws 13 which pass throughsuitable openings formed in the corners of said plate, one of said openings 22 being preferably elongated to provide for a close adjustment of the plate when attaching the device to the straight edge.

The carrier or frame 8, which is preferably made from resilient sheet metal, comprises a portion 14, which is bent to incline slightly towards the plate 7, for the purpose hereinafter set forth, and is provided with an opening 15 Vat or near its inner end through which the set screw 10 is adapted to pass, as shown in Fig. 4, in order to rotatabl T secure or pivot said carriage or frame to the plate. At the outer end of the carriage or frame, the metal is bent to form a cylindrical ortion 16, which is adapted to receive and liold the bubbletube 12, a portion of the metal being cut away to form an opening 17 for the purpose of exposing the bubble-tube in the usual manner. This cylindrical portion 16 is made slightly longer than the bubble-tube, and portions of the metal at each end lthereof are bent or turned inward to form end stops 18, Fig. 5, to retain the bubble-tube in place. If the tube should break, it is simply necessary to bend one or both of the end stops outward, slip the broken tube from its position, insert a new one in its place, and then bend the end stop or stops 18 inward again into the position shown in Fig. 5.

At an intermediate ortion of the frame 8, a screw 19 or similar device is secured in any Vsuitable manner, said screw being provided withv a knurled head 2O and having a wedgesha ed inner end, as indicated at 21, Fig. 6, saidpwedge-shaped inner end being adapted to snugly iit into the V-shaped recesses or ride up 'rier in any one of depressions 11. The location of the screw 19 in the frame 8 is such that its wedgeshaped end 21 is ada ted to register with and enter each of the V-s aped recesses 11, as the frame is revolved about the set screw 10, and thereby assist in retaining the frame or carits operative positions as desired.

As above described, the portion 14 of the frame or carrier 8 is slightly inclined or bent toward the plate 7, thereby tending to force the wedge-shaped end 21 of the screw 19 into the recess or epression 11 employed, from which recess it may easily be withdrawn, however, when it is desired to change the position of the frame or carrier, owing to the resiliency of the metal of which said frame or carrier is constructed. The change in position of the frame or carrier is accomplishe as follows: r1`he wedge-shaped end 21 of the screw 19 is first withdrawn from the V- shaped recess 11, with by either grasping the knurled head 2() of said screw and pulling it slightly outward, or by merely pushing against the side of the frame, which will cause the wedge-shaped end to the inclined side of the recess 11 and thus free itself from said recess, the resiliency of the metal of which the frame 8 is formed,

being sufficient to permit of the lengthwise movement of the screw. The frame or carrier is then swung around or rotated about the set screw 1() as a pivot, into the position desired, and the wedge-shaped end 21 is permitted to enter the corresponding recess or depression 11, thus holding the frame or carrier firmly in position.

As shown in Fig. 1, and in full lines in Fig. 3, the bubble-tube is adapted to be used in conjunction with the upper edge ofv the straight edge. 1n Fig. 2 it is shown in position for use as a plumb, the frame or carrier having been turned through an angle of ninety degrees, while in the position indicated by the dotted lines shown in Fig. 3; the tube is adapted to be used in conjunction with the lower edge, the frame or carrier having been turned through an angle of one hundred and eighty degrees.

1t will be seen from the above description that my improved device may be easily and quickly adjusted for use as a level or as a plumb, that it consists of but few parts which are inexpensive to manufacture, and which may be easily assembled, that it will be efficient and accurate in operation, and that it is so constructed as to permit a broken or damaged bubble-tube to be quickly and easily removed and a new one inserted in its place.

Having fully described my invention, what l. claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the which it is coacting,`

character described,

the combination with a plate having a series of V-sha ed recesses arranged in the circumference o a circle, of aframe having a bubbletube at one end and having at right angles to the axis of said tube, said part being pivotally secured to the plate at the center of the circle, whereby the frame may be caused to travel through a complete revolution, and means supported by said frame at a point between the tube and the axis about which the frame is turnable, said means having a wedge-shaped end portion adapted to engage any of said recesses.

2. 1n a device of the character described, the combination with a plate having a recess substantially V-sha ed in cross section, of a frame having a bub le-tube at one endand having a part extending at right angles to the axis of said tube and pivotally secured to the plate whereby the frame is turnable about said pivot, and .a screw passing through the plate at a point between the tube and the pivot of the plate, said screw having a wedgeshaped end adapted to engage the'recess in the plate.

3. 1n a device of the character described, the combination with a plate having a series of recesses arranged in the circumference of a circle, of a frame form a cylinder said bent portion having a part cut away and said frame having portions which are bent over the ends of the cylinder to` form closures therefor, a bubble-tube in said cylinder between said closures and exposed through the cut away .portion of the frame, and a screw assing through the frame between the cylin the pivot about whichl the frame is turnable, said screw having its end adapted to engage the recesses in said plate.

4. 1n a device of the character described,

the combination with a plate having a proi jecting boss and a series of recesses arranged in a circle about said boss, of a frame of resilient material slightly inclined relative to the surface of the plate, said frame having one end bent into cylindrical form and containing a bubble tube, a screw passing through the opposite end of the plate and into said boss and frame to the boss, and a second screw passing through a portion of the framebetween the bent end thereof and the first-named screw and having its inner end adapted to engage the recesses in the plate.

Signed at New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 29th day of October, A. D. 1907.

ALBERT FORRER.

Witnesses:

M. VAN NoRTwroK, JOHN B. WHITE.

a part extending rical portion thereof and ,1

turnably securing the having a portion bent to 

